Tense Anniversary in Myanmar, Monks Lead Protests

by PEP | September 18, 2007 at 04:27 am

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Will Tuesday's protests see a recurrence of the 1988 government crackdown that reportedly led to hundreds of deaths? The monks also have demanded an apology for those beaten in earlier protests.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks have joined a peaceful protest in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, amid signs of increasing tensions with the military government.

About 400 monks chanted prayers but no political slogans as they marched through the city in one of the biggest demonstrations since the current wave of protests began.

Marches also reportedly took place in the northwestern city of Sittwe and other towns and cities.

The protests come on the anniversary of a 1988 coup that put the current government in power and triggered a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in which hundreds are thought to have died.